Citigroup Inc. Sells 71,353 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Citigroup Inc. lowered its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 364,015 shares of the company's stock after selling 71,353 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.12% of Equitable worth $18,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 154.3% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter worth about $104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total value of $212,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 19,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,052,615.43. This trade represents a 16.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.18, for a total transaction of $1,595,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 724,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,521,837.06. This represents a 3.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 94,000 shares of company stock worth $4,940,960. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on EQH shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $68.00 price target (up from $67.00) on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equitable currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Equitable Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE EQH traded down $0.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $53.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,322,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,786,567. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.13 billion, a PE ratio of 43.42 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.16. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.99 and a 1-year high of $56.61.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.10%.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.